BELLAIRE — Seven people were arrested and drugs and weapons seized early Tuesday when Belmont County Sheriff David Lucas said the Criminal Interdiction Unit, the Belmont County Special Operations Branch, the Bellaire Police Department, and Jefferson and Harrison county sheriff’s offices executed two search warrants on a Trumbull Street house.

Law enforcement does not believe the suspects were operating outside Belmont County.

“Harrison and Jefferson county’s a part of our (interdiction) team and we brought them on, so it’s all a joint effort. We’re all working together now,” Lucas said. “We’re getting more people involved.”

He said drug traffickers sometimes use Ohio 800 and U.S. 250 as well as Interstate 70 to transport contraband, so working with other counties is vital.

Kenneth “Truck” Smith, 34, of Cleveland was arrested and charged with multiple counts of possession and trafficking in drugs and child endangerment. Numerous Bellaire residents were also arrested, including Jade Leasure, 23, charged with possession and trafficking in drugs and child endangerment; Kyle Vinka, 32, possession and trafficking; Kody Vinka, 31, possession and trafficking; Myliek Green, 27, complicity to trafficking; and Donovan Lynn, 18, complicity to trafficking. Sabrina Holloway, 45, of Bellaire was arrested earlier for possession of fentanyl.

Lucas said a large amount of narcotics was seized from the residence, including 1,000 pressed fentanyl pills, an ounce and a half of methamphetamine and 3 ounces of raw fentanyl, drug paraphernalia as well as two handguns, one of which was listed in the national database as stolen.

“This was an ongoing investigation by my unit and the people involved,” Lucassaid. “This is just another good investigation … Just to show, we get information, we’re going to follow up and we’re going to take them down, We’re going to make arrests, and we’re not going to stop. This is a continual thing not only in our county, in the Ohio Valley, and we’re making it a priority and have been about getting the drugs off the street.”

He said deadly drugs were involved.

“This stuff is being brought in, is being cut or mixed with other stuff and being sold on the street, and we all know, we don’t have to tell how bad fentanyl is. Some of the amount of it was pure fentanyl. This was a really good investigation, a really good bust,” he said.

Lucas did not elaborate on the number of children reportedly at the location or their age ranges.

“There’s kids involved and we called Child Protective Services to the scene, so they took care of the children,” he said. “You’ve got kids in a house with all these drugs and guns and fentanyl, and we all know it just takes a few grains of fentanyl (to be fatal), so you’re putting your children in danger.”

Lucas added there are dangers associated with drugs and the drug trade.

“What goes with drugs? Guns, and that’s why my special operation branch was there, for the safety of the officers, not only of the community,” he said. “We want our officers to go home.”

There are multiple other people who are considered suspects, and detectives will be seeking additional charges on them.

“There’s other people that are still involved in this investigation, and we’re hoping that down the road there’ll be further people arrested, too,” he said. “Even though we served a warrant, it’s still an active investigation.”

Lucas warns drug dealers that they will be caught.

“We’re kind of a very rural county, but I’ll put my people, my investigators, my criminal investigation unit, the local police department up against the big boys in the state,” he said. “Drug dealers in Belmont County, pack your bags and move, because we’re not going to tolerate it. We get a referral, we will follow up, we will watch you, we will get a warrant, we will arrest you, we will take you to jail. We’re not going to tolerate it.”